Code Name: Phoenix
by Reatrea
Summary: Even as a child, Viktoria Reatreum wanted to be an Inquisitor. After joining the Sisters of Battle to work directly beside Inquisitors, her tenacity and dedication was noticed. Years later she achieved her goal and ascended to the Emperor's Left Hand. These are her stories. :: Recently Published: The Wall (or Why Viktoria Hates Sub-Rosa).
1. Introduction

++ENTER INQUISITOR IDENTIFICATION++

++ENTER ENCRYPTION PASSWORD++

++THANK YOU INQUISITOR.++

++ACCESSING FILES NOW++

* * *

++++ To say that I am accomplished Inquisitor would be a downright understatement. In fact I have been asked to document parts of my life. I agreed under the condition that they will not be released until my death. There are some things which could, in theory, damn me. But perhaps being a Hero of the Imperium more than once will help my case.

I was a Scintillan high born, my father was an adviser to a family there and my mother is a Sister Famulous. While it was expected to follow in her footsteps, at one point in my life I witnessed an event that convinced me that I wanted to be a witch hunter, and perhaps one day an Inquisitor. I realized that being a sister of battle was a quicker route to that goal and I did indeed achieve it.

My life has had many ups and downs, which you will read about in the following documents. Feel free to skip around, I will not be insulted. Some of the files might be placed elsewhere and my scribe will make sure to list were they are stored.

I have been given a very ancient device that with the help of a psyker will allow me to directly record memories. I also sometimes kept a casual journal, but being as those can be trouble at times, I rarely put anything more that emotions and documentations of daily life in them. There will be times were I do not want to bore you with memories and will narrate over them. Narration will be marked and in bold and past journal entries will be marked and in italics.

I warn you now, some parts of my life are very strange.

As you go through and read, I do hope your memory of me stays positive. But although I spent a good portion of my life trying to convince myself otherwise, I am only human. Even in my growing age I am filled with passion. I enjoy fine things like a manor of my own and flawless amasec, but I also enjoy simple pleasures, like getting into fisticuffs and a good pair of lips on mine. I hope my life will give you lessons and inspirations for your own.

Best of luck,

=][=

Viktoria Reatreum+++

* * *

This is a documentation of our Dark Heresy campaign. It has been going on for four years (and is not over). We played all the major published stories as well as many adventures of our own. Some of these are just side stories of my Inquisitor that were not actual game play but have been read by the GM.

I will publish some of the smaller stories and missions in this story, however some of the larger ones I will publish separately and refer to. (Then link to in the author notes.) As for the published Fantasy Flight stories, I will gloss over them and refer to "the full mission log" and post the name of the books they are in.

**IMPORTANT NOTE** I will write the logs on a whim and will not be publishing them in chronological order. However, I will keep the chapters in chronological order thanks to the chapter shuffling that FF lets us do.

Thank you for reading!


	2. The Wall (Sub-Rosa Disaster)

The Wall

**+++ The following memory was a bitter reminder that not only am I a bit more forgiving than some of my peers, but that I absolutely HATE sub-rosa.+++**

In the outskirts of Sinophia Magna, the Inquisitor and her acolytes approached the large stadia complex where their lead had said the rally of the Razor's Edge cult would be held. Large cargo haulers had been used to create barricades while smaller vehicles fitted with heavy stubbers and other weaponry kept an eye on the entrances.

A crowd of people was already making its way into the arena where the sound of laud hailers was playing a popular Malfian anthem. The throng was made up of varying types of people, all disguised in heavy robes or concealing clothing, some even wearing colorful masks.

At the entrance, they watched as mercenary types searched entrants for weapons and other dangerous objects, and asked them questions in some cases. The mercenaries bore a crudely-painted dagger on their flak armour chest pieces, tipped with a droplet of crimson blood.

Maro took a drag off of his lho-stick and glanced upward at the clouds, which reflected the brightness of the spaceport's stablights and the general glow of the world's capital city. "Lovely evening for a bit of heresy, isn't it?"

The Inquisitor frowned at the blank and tugged at her hood some, trying to keep it as low as possible over her dyed hair. Eva made a face and shifted her stub pistol, trying to conceal it from the guards. She tucked a strand of her short pink hair behind her ear. Viktoria moved her bolt pistol so that it was strapped under her arm. It was awkward, but it worked well enough.

When they reached the checkpoint, the guards searched Viktoria first, patting her stomach and back, then checking her legs. The guard in charge nodded and let her through. The next checked Eva, not finding the stub revolver tucked neatly between her bosoms.

As they checked Maro, finally, one of the guards raised his voice. "Hey. No guns inside. We'll be keeping these." He pulled a pair of laspistols from the dual holsters on Maro's belt. The blank swore softly. "Dammit... you're gonna give those back, right?"

The guard glared and tossed them in a crate with other confiscated weapons. "You can get them later if they're still here. Move along."

After they passed through the metal stalls, Maro snickered to himself. He produced a pair of steel-burner laspistols and shoved them back into his holsters to replace the poor quality decoys. "Suckers."

Viktoria grinned at him as she strapped her bolt pistol around her waist again and turned it so that it was on her back. "You're smarter than I give you credit for sometimes, Maro."

"Nicely done." Eva winked at him, pulling her stub pistol from between her breasts.

Maro looked genuinely impressed. And the trick with the gun was nice too.

They continued into the stadium complex, where a stage had been set up with banners, surrounded by a small contingent of carapace armoured cult mercenaries. The space was packed, and standing room only as the masses of Malfi's worst scum filed in. A stablight focused on the centre of the stage, where a podium stood in front of the crimson curtain backdrop which bore a similar dagger symbol.

Maro took another drag off of the lho-stick, less impressed by the setup. "A bit egotistical, isn't he?"

"What else do you expect from him and his followers?" Viktoria grunted.

Maro shrugged. "Do you think he'll really turn up? That seems like an easy target..."

"Our intel says both 'yes' and 'no'. So I vote 'no', probably just a representative, which would be almost as good if we could nab him." She cracked her knuckles.

"Remind me why we couldn't be full rosa?" Eva asked, pouting slightly

"We would lose our guy. On occasion, even I admit things should be done subtly." Viktoria said, rubbing her nose with her gloved hand.

"Just don't come and save us if you manage to get away, ok boss?"

"There will be no running this time. We will just be nabbing him after this rally is over." Viktoria replied calmly.

As the last cult prospectives made it into the arena, the large cargo haulers drove forward, closing the entrances off completely to the outside. The volume of the laud hailers was driven higher as the anthem reached a loud crescendo, and on stage the figure emerged from the red curtain. His tall hat made for a striking silhouette in the bright glare of the stablights.

There was a brief scratching noise as the laud hailers changed tracks, blasting instead an Imperial hymn through their crackling speakers. The man took a vox-amplifier from the podium and paced, his expression cold-hearted.

"So you thought you might like to join in the cult... to show your friends you're not afraid of a bolt..." The figured gave the silent crowd a cruel grin. "I've got some bad news for you scum. Kell isn't well; he's locked up in a cell. So they've sent me along -the Emperor's left hand- we're going to find out where you heretics stand!"

Viktoria groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "That is an Inquisitor. And he is toying with this group before he arrests them or something..."

"Can we start shooting now?" Eva whispered to Viktoria, her hand curling around the grip of her pistol.

Viktoria grabbed Eva's arm, her face now pale. "No. You may not shoot the Inquisitorial idiots. As soon as I get a dataslate, I can verify our authority and we can leave."

In front of the stage, the carapace-armoured mercenaries peeled off the decals on their armour, revealing the Inquisitorial =][=. Around the edges of the stadium, other cloaked forms did the same. "Are there any psykers in the theatre tonight? Put them up against the wall!"

Bursts of bolter fire echoed throughout the arena as resisting cult prospectives were quickly put down. A man with an aquila-topped staff was pointing out individuals as the stormtroopers subdued them. "That one in the stablight doesn't look right to me- get him up against the wall!"

Viktoria turned to the blank. "Maro. Limiter OFF."

Maro spat out his lho-stick and flipped off the limiter.

"I don't think he likes the word subtle, boss," Eva said, keeping an eye on the other Inquisitor.

"Clearly. But we will handle this calmly and just leave him to his… thing." Viktoria grunted.

She pouted. "I was looking forward to beating up some scum. Can we nab him for spoiling my fun?"

"I will most likely deck him later for this." Viktoria growled. "He is losing me leads."

Gouts of bright flame lit up the night as the Inquisitor's acolytes torched those trying to climb the walls. In the chaos, the stormtroopers were now moving toward Viktoria and her retinue. The robed psyker frowned and stabbed his finger toward Maro. "Take him! The Inquisitor will want him!"

Eva's hand closed round the grip of her pistol, but she didn't draw it.

Black-armoured men rushed at Maro, using Hydraphur-pattern riot shields to batter past the onlookers. They swung their shock mauls, and he did well to avoid them the first two times, but a third stormtrooper appeared behind the gunslinger and battered him over the head. As Maro collapsed in a spasming wreck, the troopers grabbed him and drug him backward.

"HALT!" Viktoria roared trying to be louder than the music. "HE IS AN INQUISITORIAL AGENT AND I AM HIS INQUISITOR! GIVE ME A DATASLATE AND I WILL GIVE YOU MY CODES!" In her passion, Viktoria's outline started to glow softly as she resisted using one of her holy gifts.

The hymns were deafening, and it was possible they only heard the psyker because of a comm-link, as they hauled him away. In the absence of Maro's null field, the psyker's eyes lit up. "Witch! That one is a witch! Get them up against the wall!"

"Damn!" Eva drew her pistol and raised it slightly.

"STAND DOWN EVA!" Viktoria tore off her glove and held up her hand so the thick, but plain ring on it was visible. "I SAID I AM AN INQUISITOR! STAND DOWN!"

The stormtroopers moved on Viktoria and Eva, pressing the attack to back them up against the high stadium wall. The thick riot shields made the prospect of firing on them with a stub revolver less than promising, not to mention the carapace armour.

"Are you frakking stupid?!" Eva yelled at them, as they shoved her back. "She's a frakking Inquisitor for Throne's sake!"

Viktoria swore, they couldn't hear her, they couldn't hear anything. She pressed her micro-bead to call Mesmeron in his ship but all she got was static. With a sigh, she seemed to make a hard decision. "Eva. I need you to stand down." she said over her bead so that the woman could hear her. "Don't make more trouble for yourself."

Eva snarled at the idiots with the riot shields. She rammed her pistol back into its holster and raised her hands.

Viktoria closed her eyes and started whispering a prayer, focusing her power. After a long moment, her form lit up like a stablight. Her presence became incredibly bright in the area, any psyker would know exactly where she was. And hopefully... Inquisitor Mesmeron was looking.

Brutally, the stormtroopers slammed the Inquisitor and her acolyte against the rockcrete. The psyker howled behind them in pain from the holy light. "That brightness! Get the..." his voice was drowned out by the blaring hymns. "...Kell's lieutenants!"

One of the stormtroopers shoved a thick collar around Viktoria's neck, which mag-locked closed. They did the same to Eva, as a precaution.

Several choice insults rushed through Eva's mind at that moment, but she chose to keep her mouth shut, in case these morons got the wrong idea.

The holy light power slammed off, and Viktoria opened her eyes. Glaring at the stormtrooper, she whirled around. "I SAID I AM AN INQUISITOR! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

The sound from the laud hailers was dying down as the stormtroopers loaded their prisoners onto the cargo haulers. A man in a long red coat moved past the stormtroopers, looking Viktoria over. He saw the bolt pistol on her body and snatched it from her. "Oho! That's rich! Do you know the penalty for impersonating the Inquisition, worm?"

"I prefer, Inquisitor Reatreum or My Lady will do as well." Viktoria sneered. "Now give me a damn dataslate so I can give you my codes and leave since your Inquisitor has pissed on MY mission plans with this fiasco."

"Scan her ring, you idiot!" Eva snapped at him.

The interrogator slapped Eva across the cheek, leaving a bright, stinging mark. "There'll be time for you later. As for you, 'Inquisitor', you've already been exposed as a witch, and your tricks will hold no sway over me as I am an Interrogator. You know what that means? It means that I am the Inquisitor's right hand man and soon to be an Inquisitor myself! "

Viktoria smirked. "You're recently promoted aren't you, Kid?"

Fire leapt in Eva's eyes as her cheek reddend. "Try that slap again without your boys around you."

The interrogator pointed Viktoria's bolt pistol at her face. "I'll be ascending after this. Too bad you won't live to see it."

Without missing a beat, Eva pushed aside the stormtrooper that held her and leapt at the interrogator, tackling him to the ground as she tried to wrestle the bolt pistol from his grip.

"Eva! Stand down! Thats an order!" She barked.

The Interrogator spun on the girl. "...or I'll detonate that lovely little head of yours. That's a bomb you're wearing, heretic."

Eva froze, her blood suddenly cold. "I'm no heretic," she hissed through clenched teeth. "Avey Imperatar." Her hive accent slurred the newly learned High Gothic, but she hoped it was be enough. She slowly stepped away from the Interrogator.

"We'll see if the Emperor is on your side. Guards, take them to the mobile excruciator." He snarled.

"What's the punishment for killing another Inquisitor again?" Eva muttered to no-one in particular.

"Interrogator, You'll be dead if you blow the head off a Senior Inquisitor of the Calixian Conclave." Viktoria said coolly and calmly. "I told you before. I am Senior Inquisitor Viktoria Reatreum. I was here to capture one of Kell's agents for interrogation." she said, following them.

"You're creative, I'll give you that. It's a poor disguise though. If you'd done any research you'd know Inquisitor Reatreum doesn't even do field work anymore. You're out of luck, fool."

Viktoria gasped. "Excuse me! I do too! Is that what they are saying these days! Sure I don't do as much as I use to but, Throne! I'll have the head of those gossips!" she growled.

"Don't worry boss. If this idiot does kill us, there's not a single place in the entire Imperium where he'd be safe from Inquisitor Stark and Commander Rosewood." Eva wasn't good at diplomacy, but she hoped that dropping those two names would help their case.

The guards pushed them toward a retrofitted chimera transport, whose open back revealed an interrogation in progress. "Nathaniel Stark, for the record, is a retired daemonhunter, and I have no idea who this Rosewood fellow is. Next you'll be telling me Felroth Gelt is an ally too."

"Have you not done _your _research?" Viktoria said, trying not to look into the chimera. "Gelt trained Thrask and Thrask trained me. We were all sniveling little Interrogators once. Don't feel too bad. And why don't you just let your psyker mentally interrogate us since your play chamber seems to be occupied."

The Interrogator smirked. "That's not a terrible idea." he drew a hypo-pistol. "We'll need to take care of those little witch-powers first, though."

Eva stared at the person being interrogated. He cold blood now turned icy. Any witty comment or snide remark died on her tongue as her throat seemed to close up.

Viktoria rose a hand at the sight of the needle. "No, since I am not a psyker." she said evenly. "Isn't this damn suppression collar enough to make you feel better about it?"

The Interrogator eyed her with a satisfied grin. "Now we're getting somewhere."

Eva forced herself to look away. "Why..." She cleared her throat and put on a facade of firmness. "Why don't you get your psyker buddy to mind-poke me? I'm not a psyker, so he'd have nothing to worry about."

"Or..." the Interrogator replied, "Since 'Inquisitor Reatreum' is so well trained, I could put _you_ in the excruciator until she tells me who she really is."

Eva's heart skipped several beats and her face turned pale.

"You're idea is misguided, Interrogator. A heretic would not care about their tools, especially if it means they can report safely back to their master. Meanwhile you are just going to piss an Inquisitor off by threatening their Throne Agents." Viktoria said, putting on her best teaching voice. "You could also just let me have a dataslate and let me verify my identity. Surely you can hear my accent is of an upper hive."

The Interrogator smirked. "Only a foolish Interrogator would think for a moment that giving a dataslate to an enemy operative to send out a message to their master would be wise. I also know that witches are quite capable of changing appearance and voice. You were even smart enough to bring a null so we wouldn't notice your powers. Whether or not the torture of your accomplice is enough to make you speak matters not. It will be enjoyable nevertheless. Kill the other and strap this one in!"

Viktoria, now happy that they made the mistake of not binding her hands, threw punch at his face.

Eva cracked her elbow into the face of the stormtrooper behind her and span round to grab his gun.

The attack hit the Interrogator's cheekbone and nose. "Bitch!" he cried out. As the man recovered, he drew the bolt pistol and fired. Even with his vision blurred, he was point blank.

Inquisitor Reatreum slipped out of the way and threw three punches at his face.

In a flurry of action, the Interrogator reeled from another square punch to the bridge of his nose. Across from him, the stormtrooper gasped, his breath stolen by the crushing blow that forced his armoured plate into his stomach. In the following seconds, Eva was holding an assault shotgun and Viktoria had a hypo pistol pressed into her neck.

Eva pointed the shotgun at the Interrogator, not flinching as she heard other guns being drawn. "Ok, here's what's going to happen. You're going to remove that pistol, stop being an asshole and either bring us a dataslate or let your twitchy brain buddy mind-poke me. Sure you could order you men to shoot me, but I have a twitchy trigger finger. As soon as I hear a gun being cocked, I'll shoot. Sure, you could blow my head off, but do you know what happens to a body when the head it violently removed? It spasms, and tenses up, including trigger fingers. I might miss, but I don't think you're brave enough to take that risk. So what's it gonna be, pansy boy?"

A voice behind Eva spoke up. "I propose a trade. That shotgun for my dataslate." Behind her, the Inquisitor stood with his trademark witch hunters hat.

Viktoria pushed the pistol away and decked the interrogator again for good measure before turning to glance back at the Inquisitor.

Eva looked at the Inquisitor, then at Viktoria, waiting for her approval.

The Inquisitor held up out her hand for him to hand her the dataslate. The wails of the man in the excruciator piercing the moment.

Eva removed her finger from the trigger and held the shotgun out for someone to take. One of the stormtroopers took the shotgun, scowling at her. The Inquisitor calmly handed Viktoria the dataslate, while Eva blew the stormtrooper a kiss and a wink.

Viktoria waved her hand over the slate and handed it back, her expression cold and even.

The Inquisitor studied it for a moment. "I suspected as much, after speaking to your null."

"As for you and your acolytes, you will be released. I did not anticipate that I would catch an Inquisitor in my trap as well. It is a small sector these days, don't you think?"

Viktoria seemed un-amused and entirely unsocial. She turned back to the interrogator and pointed at the thing on her neck. "Get. It. Off. Child."

The Inquisitor nodded and let them remove it. "Besides, I've already gotten the lead I came for."

"Your name, Inquisitor?" Viktoria asked evenly.

"Weylan. Inquisitor Drake Weylan, Ordo Hereticus."

Inquisitor Reatreum nodded. "I expect a copy of your Interrogation of this lead." she said eloquently in high gothic. "I trust your endeavors will go well."

She then whirled around and cracked the Interrogator in the head with her own. Without blinking she turned back to the Inquisitor as though nothing happened. "Show me to my blank please." she gave a slight wink to Eva as if she was the only one who saw the headbutt.

"Can I slap him, boss?" Eva asked, indicated the red hand-print on her face.

Viktoria smiled at him and gave a slight head shake. "You don't outrank him. He could kill you for it." she muttered. "But I promise he won't be ascending any time soon."

Eva pouted then turned to the other Inquisitor. "Your Interrogator needs a slap. Might I have the pleasure, Inquisitor?"

"I don't think it will be necessary," said Weylan, his face calm and relaxed. He pulled the trigger on his inferno pistol and scorched the Interrogator's head from his shoulders. "The punishment for threatening an Inquisitor is death."

Eva looked shocked and turned to Viktoria. She might be a no-good underhiver in the eyes of some people, but even to her, that was cold.

Viktoria raised an eyebrow slightly, although she would have been happy with a time in the penal legion, that would have to do. Such was the fate of many interrogators...

"Farewell, Inquisitor. The Emperor Protects." Weylan made the aquila and turned, leaving the Interrogator's body with the rest of the charred and bolt-blasted remains.

Viktoria put a hand on the stunned woman's back and moved her on gently. "And you." she said politely.

When Maro rejoined them, he too looked pale and distraught.

"So can we go home now?" Eva asked, uncharacteristly quiet.

Viktoria nodded. "Yeah... Let's go. We've got quite a hike back to the shuttle."

The gunwoman shivered as if she was cold and closed her eyes for a moment, before following Viktoria

* * *

I can take very little credit for this plot. The GM had a great idea and went with it. It was done on messenger and the GM is responsible for a great deal of this text. (This was posted with his and the other player's permission.)

Eva is played by Ben. Yay Ben!

Reviews are welcome! I will pass them on to the GM!


	3. My Unwilling Sabbatical (Romance)

My Unwilling Sabbatical (Part of the Code Name: Phoenix Logs)

**++++ If you are looking at this file for information on xenos or heretics or chaos, then you are completely in the wrong place. This is one of my stories about being a human. **

**Growing up with almost everything, I took a liking to amasec and wine. As the years went on I enjoyed it more and more. As time past I replaced more and more of my organs with clones of themselves after having them damaged beyond repair in combat. The liver being rather large was damaged frequently by bullets, but only once did I actually manage to kill my liver with alcohol. **

**The following is the memory along with journal entries about the unwilling sabbatical that I took in my sixties.+++++**

++++ _I have been feeling ill as of late. Everyone has noticed. Lanus, my dear scribe, has actually offered to lower my paperwork volume. Although I turned down his offer, I began to wonder if I was the only one who has a cold. There is a trafficking investigation going on in the middle hives, that one of my acolytes is in the middle of. As the days are passing, dear Lanus is taking on more and more of the work as I get wearier and wearier. I refuse to buckle though.++++_

+++ _It has been three days since I last updated and I can barely walk across the manor without feeling dizzy and I can't even look at food. I am thinking about going to bed ear-_

_I just got a message from one of my acolytes, they are starting to suspect him and he is requesting back up. My cold will have to wait.+++_

Viktoria hurried as best she could out of the office. With a snort she felt her psycher scholar brush her mind and ask if diving into the middle hive was ideal in my state, but she waved him off with a mental grunt.

As quickly as she could manage, the Inquisitor made her way down to her armory. The lift ride made her stomach turn and she took half a moment to compose herself. Opening the vault she started to pour over her weapons.

The lift was summoned back up and a moment later was clanking down again. "Viktoria, Master Marius was telling me that you have been feeling poorly and now plan to run off to the middle hive." There was a distinct gruffness to the doctor's voice that made him unmistakable.

"Weston." She greeted, picking up a bolt pistol and checking it. Viktoria always expected ridicule from the doctor. He was the best though, so she put up with it. "I have received a request for assistance from Abel. I can't just leave him."

"You're hands are shaking." He grunted suddenly beside her.

Viktoria blinked and looked him over, confused how he moved so quickly. Gently, Weston took the pistol from her and set it back on the rack.

"I'm going to have Lanus call someone else. You are in no shape to be walking around, much less go get into trouble."

_+++ I can't believe that I actually agreed. But he was right, I could hardly see straight. With a kinder touch than normal, he lead me back to the med-wing and started poking and fussing over me._

_I live a dangerous life and the doctor is always having to put me back together. He is rather cross about how often he has to do it. Not only that, I tend to refuse my body bed rest. It is not usually my fault that I get filled with holes. But this time I might have actually done it…._

_I have liver failure and without a doubt because of my multiple glasses of wine a day. Doc says we have to replace it right away. Luckily I keep clones of my organs on hand so this should be relatively painless.+++_

Slowly the world started to come into focus as the sedation wore off. Lanus was sitting beside Viktoria tapping away at his dataslate. "Ah! M'Lady! Welcome back! You'll be happy to know that not only was your transplant a success, but Abel is back on track with the mission." He chirped and pushed his spectacles further up his nose.

Viktoria chuckled lightly. "Thank you, Master Cistan, you are truly the only reason that I keep my job. I have never heard of an Inquisitor being fired before, but I am sure that I would be the first if it were not for you."

Lanus stood with a smile. "Perhaps, My Lady." He said with a slight bow. "But they MIGHT forgive your paperwork for the miracles you manage to pull."

At that moment the doctor walked in, his face was as stern as ever. He walked right up to the foot of the bed and peered at the Inquisitor for a moment. "The operation was indeed successful, as Master Cistan said, however, as I have told you before, these constant transplants are straining your system. You will be on very strict anti-rejection mediations that also suppress your immune system. You're going to have fun with that. Also, I need not say this with most patients, but since you are a special breed of stubborn, I am reminding you that you are to take absolutely no alcohol while on this road to recovery. Not only are you an alcoholic, the medication will react very poorly with it."

Weston walked around to the side of the bed and sat down. "Viktoria, I will know if even a single drop goes into your system."

Viktoria frowned up at him. "Oh? How?"

Weston locked eyes on Viktoria. "You'll die."

**+++ I have talked in other files about the few moments in my life where I think that my heart actually stopped from shock. Sure this wasn't even close to being accused of heresy, but the way he said it and the look in his eyes made it one of the more clear memories that I have.**

**Needless to say, the next couple of weeks were some of the worst in my life. To say that I was ill from withdraw would be an understatement. Once I started though, Doctor Samuel Weston did not leave my side for longer than a moment. Once the worst of it was past, I was allowed to leave the med-wing and start picking my life back up.+++**

_+++ I can't even remember how long is has been, but let me give you an update on my recovery. Finally left out of the med-wing I am back to my daily routine with a few adjustments. Weston still wants to keep a close eye on me so I invited him to have breakfast on the balcony that overlooks the orchards. I do not feel quite right, but it is good to be back among friends.+++_

_+++ I cannot concentrate on anything. My fracking hands won't stop shaking and I can't think straight let alone accomplish paperwork. Lanus has informed me that he told the conclave that I was severely injured and was unable to work. I almost hit him I was so angry for it. I am horrified at how undone I have become perhaps locking myself away from others will keep their irritating faces from looking at me funny. +++_

_+++ Lanus came and checked on me today since I have been in my room for two day straight. After a firm prayer I apologized to my adept and admitted that he was wise to put me on leave. I thanked him. Later Weston came and almost literally drug me from my chambers to 'take a walk'. This walk turned into me not being allowed back into my room until evening.+++_

_+++ It has been several days since I wrote last, but I have actually been quite busy. Doc has been dragging me around and making me 'do things' to get my mind off my dear drink. I ingest so much apple juice that I don't think that I will have much to sell this year.+++_

_+++ If I find out who brought this plague into my home and got me sick with a suppressed immune system…. I can't even think of a good follow-through…. Weston insists on being with me though.+++_

Weston peeled back several layers on Viktoria's large bed to get to the curled up woman.

"Throne, Viktoria, I can barely find you under all this. Look we have to get your fever down so I've had the servants draw you a cool bath."

Viktoria muttered something that might have been a protest or a flat out 'frack off'.

"Too bad." He said and slipped his arms under her. "Throne on Terra, woman! You are heavy!" Weston groaned and heaved her into his arms.

Slowly, step by step he walked her into the bathing area and dumped her into the marble bathtub, night set and all. At first she cringed and shivered but slowly she relaxed. One of the maids started to protest that he was staying but he silenced her with a glare and sent her away.

Monitoring her fever every few minutes, he passed the time by washing all of the sweat out of her short hair and making sure her scar from the transplant was healing well. Eventually he drained the tub, wrapped her in a towel and took her back to the bed.

"I'll check on you again in an hour or so, get some rest." He said, making her drink some water and pulling a single silk sheet over her wet form.

_+++ I am back on my feet again. Take that Father Plague! You will not defeat me with a petty cold! In other 'news' (Throne my life is so dull right now….) it has been half a year since the operation and I will be starting to take softer medications. I've got one more IV dose and a couple of more oral doses and then onto other things. _

_Samuel has been walking closer to me when we go on our walks and I have been beating him more than usual at regicide. Although Lanus and Marius (my psychic scholar) often come with us we often barely notice that they are around. Are talks have been more light hearted and he calls me 'infuriating woman and stubborn woman' a little bit less. We talk about how we would fair with each other's careers and pasts. He decided that I would be killed by the commissar before I even got to the battle field, much less be able to follow orders long enough to get shot in the trenches. I retaliated by pointing out that he would never fit in the Soroitas power armor, much less live long enough to see a daemon to piss himself upon seeing. We didn't get to talk for the rest of the walk due to the fact that we were laughing too hard.+++_

_+++ Lanus and Marius are up to something. They keep looking at Samuel and I then snickering. It makes me smile and want to throttle them at the same time.+++_

_+++ Today was the last day of the IV medicine. It took a long time and I nodded off in the middle of it. I think Samuel did too. While I was asleep, I had the strangest dream which I have documented elsewhere. In it, Samuel and I were undercover in the guard and… things happened and we had some interesting talks. [See 'Fueling the Fire' (1)] _

_Upon waking up, my smug scholar was sitting in a chair between us with a sly smile on his lips and I now believe it was all his doing. It would not have been the first time that this powerful man meddled just a bit in my life. Like water, he folded himself out of the chair and floated out of the room._

_Weston and I exchanged 'I just had the weirdest dream' and realized that we had indeed shared in. In awe we watched the door that the scholar had walked out of. When Samuel asked if the scholar was always so meddlesome, I simply replied that it was in his blood.+++_

**+++ It was six more months until the dear doctor cleared me for work again. It was around this time that we shared a single kiss at a ball. Although he was not ready for anything further I promised to touch my hand tenderly and times and to remind me that I was beautiful. It was a shallow thing for me to ask for, but like all humans I yearned for a lover and just the whisper of kindness was enough to satisfy me for a time.+++**

* * *

(1) "Fueling the Fire" (The links are acting oddly but it is the usual /s/9038014/1/Fueling-The-Fire )

Thank you for reading. This started as Fueling the Fire but then upon talking with the GM it didn't work from them to be gone for the undercover mission. I liked it enough that I made it a shared dream. It was a cheap way to do it, but it was the only way I could think of to have the conversations happen without completely re-coning it.

Reviews are more than welcome.

** I make frequent mistakes and my editor has quit on me so if I missed something I do apologize. I will come back and re-read a day later and catch some of them.


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